No new post today, it’s Christmas!  Instead, I offer you a prayer for a,

Very Merry

Christ Filled

Christmas

Come back next week for a new article and an important announcement!

God Bless us every one…

Fundamental Charlie

So it’s that time of year when the debate heats up between saying, “Merry Christmas,” and anything that is not, “Merry Christmas.” You may be expecting that I would come out as a stout supporter of, “Merry Christmas,” but there are a couple of things that bear looking into before we get to that point. OK, I’ll spare you the agony of waiting for me to say it, “I prefer the greeting, ‘Merry Christmas.’” That said, it is worth noting that though I prefer it that way, I am coming at it from a skewed point of view. I am a Christian and so my loyalty is to Christ, of course I prefer, “Merry Christmas.

Now one thing I want to say early on is that I do not intend that anything I say here should cause a division among any of God’s creation, we have more than enough of that already. Still the question remains; is Christmas an issue to divide over? Does it matter if someone says, “Happy Holidays,” or, “Season’s Greetings?” For that matter, is Christmas even a celebration that Christians should observe in the first place? There are those who are firmly rooted in literal Biblical interpretation that will tell you that Christmas is not a Biblical celebration and is rather, a rival festival to the pagan celebration of Saturnalia, the festival of the winter solstice. The origin of the celebration, I believe is accurately described as decidedly pagan, Christmas was the attempt to offer a seasonal celebration to counter the draw of the rites of solstice.

Now before anyone gets all up in arms, or puts on the tar-pots to boil, let’s look at Christmas objectively. There is much to be read on the internet concerning the origins of this holiday and the circumstances surrounding it’s metamorphosis into the paragon of Christian virtue it is celebrated as being today, so there is really not much use going into that. I think that the discussion is better placed in a different light. If we are to be known by the judgment of our fruit before the world, what does it say to the world when we get up on our sanctimonious soap boxes each December and denounce everyone who fails to Christianize the season by saying, “Merry Christmas?” Is this really what Christendom has devolved to?

If a person takes offense at the thrusting of Christ upon them by the well-meaning Christian, all it says is that particular person has not yet received the call of God in their life, and that MAYBE a door is being presented, open, to witness to that person as to why the Christian holds the position that they do. For the Christian to be offended by the lack of Christ in another’s holiday greeting is to be guilty of misplaced judgment. I have stated my opinion on judging others before, but perhaps it’s worth restating here. I believe that we are to judge within Christendom, but not to judge those, in the world. We are called to go into the world to share the good news of the Gospel of Christ but not to judge the world for not accepting it.

The world is an exceedingly sinful place; a statement that I am sure will be accepted readily by all Christians. In a sinful society what kinds of behaviors could you expect to find? SINFUL ONES! OK, so the world is merely doing what it is that the world does! And doing it in fine fashion too. If we are to be honest about it, we should give medals to the sinners who are in the world because they do such a good job of committing the sins that their nature calls them to do! We should not judge them and condemn them, no; we should rightly judge them, (if we are to judge them at all), as being expert in the field of sin. God will judge the world, we need not bother with wasting our time on that endeavor. Those within the church, those who parade around carrying the banner of Christ, these we need to judge with Godly discernment. We are to examine their fruit to see if they are who they claim to be. If it helps, let’s not think of ourselves as judges, we can consider ourselves, “Fruit Inspectors.” But as we do so, remember that our fruit is subject also and that other Christians may be looking to see if we are living the love that Christ left to us.

Not every person who says, “Happy Holidays,” means something pointed by it. Some may be, understandably, tired of the arguments they get when they may inadvertently offend this one or that by being politically incorrect, but for the Christian, I think that it is understood that if we are to celebrate any holiday at the end of December, to us, it is Christmas. For a person who is not a Christian to wish a Merry Christmas to anyone is actually absurd. If I don’t share the belief of a person who celebrates a holiday that I do not, I may wish them well in their season of celebration, but I won’t try to placate them by wishing them a specific greeting for that holiday. But the whole issue has gotten so overblown that I can barely believe it. We are dividing one another by the choice of words used to convey a sentiment because some people don’t, “…keep the Christ in Christmas!”

Brothers and sisters, have we nothing better to do than to stand before the world and complain that they are being disrespectful by not doing as we Christians would do? What is the example of Christianity that we are demonstrating? Did not Jesus say that we would face trials in this life and that we were to overcome those trials with love for our enemies? In America we enjoy a certain degree of freedom of speech and as such, we need not restrain ourselves from saying, “Merry Christmas.” But let’s not expect the world to act as though they are not the world. If possible, use the occasion to share your faith, and if that opportunity does not avail itself, you can at least pray for that person that God might open their hearts to the message of Christ. Nobody wins souls for Christ by being the better contestant in a debate, nobody is argued into the Kingdom of Heaven and nobody accepts Christ by losing a fight.

When you meet someone on the street and wish them a Merry Christmas, and they answer in kind; rejoice that two like minded souls have crossed. Let’s not get so consumed in the arguments about the proper greeting to offer at this time of year that we destroy the very witness that we need to be diligently working toward. If the world is to look at us and recognize us by the love we display toward one another, let’s give the world a chance to see that love!

The Bible does not command us to celebrate the birth of anyone, not even the Christ child. Sure, we choose to do so, and we choose this time of year to do it, but we do more harm than good to stand in stern condemnation of those who do not share our values. That is the mark of the false religions, intolerance toward other faiths. The Christian is not to focus on identifying the infidel, or finding ways to punish them. We are to stand confident in our faith, steadfast in the certainty that there is but one way to be saved and that being faith in Christ, but being always ready to give a reason for the hope that we have in Christ Jesus, not demand that everyone do likewise. Would it be wonderful if the whole world came to know Jesus? Of course it would. It is not realistic though, not all will be saved and there will be some who, unfortunately, will be cast into outer darkness; judging the world and the worldling will not do anything except give them a reason to remain as far away, as is possible, from the only saving faith there is.

Christian, I wish you and your families a most heartfelt, Merry Christmas. I pray that you have peace and joy in the quantities of abundance which only God can draw upon. To us, this is one of the most holy of seasons and one which should draw us ever closer to the calling of Christ to carry the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Let us not mar the season of God’s love for us, in Christ, by turning it into a dividing point that shatters the holiness of our holiday and destroys the witness that we need to exhibit before the world. Christmas is a season of peace and contentment to most of the world; both for the Christian, as well as the non-Christian; to the Christian though, it is more. To the Christian it is all about the advent of the Messiah, an annual celebration of hope, a point of grateful reflection that we observe…

All for the Glory of Christ